The 4 Biggest Marketing Mistakes You Can Make

The Four Biggest Marketing Mistakes That Cost Your Referrals

Are you making these without realizing?

1. Relationship SurrogacyYou wouldn’t want a surrogate doctor to come in to replace your doctor after an operation. Then why put a surrogate between you and your client base? Most marketing programs are sold with the idea of keeping you from having to be involved. They say things like, “You sit back, we’ll do all the work, and you’ll be the expert in your field. The go-to professional.” These programs employ what’s known in the industry as “relevant content” and a slick delivery system. There are no Mortgage or Real Estate professionals who can vouch for any of them.

Do you remember when they said, “Having a website is the most important thing?” Lots of money was earned building websites and most of them see little to no traffic at all. Literally NO business is gained on a Loan Officer’s personal website. The only thing that’s going to increase referrals from your past clients is the relationship you developed with them during the loan process. Don’t put in a surrogate to manage your message OR your relationship. The result is proven over and over again. It destroys referrals.

2. Neglected Client ListA neglected client list is the reason thousands of dollars are left on the table. Your client list is a living and breathing referral source that can produce business for generations through families and friends.

A well-maintained client list is extremely valuable! But it’s only valuable to you. Here’s why: Like it or not, you’ve developed a relationship with every single person you’ve worked with. This is what makes it a very special list. The only thing your competitor’s client list and your client list have in common is that they’re all homeowners. However, what your client list has in common between its members is very unique. YOU are what all your clients have in common. You have intimate knowledge of their financial picture and know more about them than their doctors do in many cases.

You should treat your list like a thoroughbred racehorse. If you do a loan for a past client on a new home, UPDATE THE MAILING ADDRESS! Express to anyone who helps you that accurately adding to your list and watching for duplicates is paramount. Never put notes in the address fields or empty address fields. We’ve seen notes in the address field that can be pretty damaging, everything from lives with mother, chronically unemployed, BKPT, and worse! Don’t do that! Can you imagine sending out marketing materials with that type of info on the label? Don’t neglect your client list. It’s literally the key to more referrals.

3. Marketing With the Wrong MediumThis is the single biggest killer of referrals. Social Media is an amazing concept. I could go on about the effect social media has on dopamine. The rise of Dopamine goes hand in hand with the fall of serotonin. Dopamine is a pleasure neurotransmitter (sex, gambling, food, etc.) at its core. I WANT MORE! Serotonin is the happiness or contentment neurotransmitter (I’m happy, I don’t need any more). Social media is addictive because it creates a desire for social interaction that never really materializes and this raises dopamine and we crave more! Hence people eating dinner at home and out and staring at their cell phones. Studies show that social media doesn’t make us happy, but rather it makes us depressed. A rise in dopamine means a fall in serotonin.

Why is social media the wrong medium for loan officers? Those addicted to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc.), don’t have anything other than recreation on their minds. This is why the loan officer’s Facebook feed has very few “likes” on very few posts and no one is sharing them other than supportive spouses, parents and assistants. Your posts don’t stand a chance against the need for attention, acceptance, admiration and entertainment.

4) Mistaking Activity for AchievementAs we get wrapped up in the technology, we’re convinced of the notion that everybody’s online, so that’s where we should be marketing. This is simply wrong. Social media and email marketing work great for impulse purchases and low-ticket items. A local pizza or sandwich special, a movie ticket and snack package as a free gift for coming in on a Tuesday evening for a burger.
These are low ticket items. Loans and Real Estate are NOT low-ticket Items. Providing and servicing them is better handled by someone who can be trusted. Twisting a social media platform like a pretzel to turn it into a marketing strategy doesn’t work unless you can deliver the desire of the buyer on the spot! Just because many are addicted to the imitation social construct that is Facebook, doesn’t mean they’re buying all their goods and services there much less their home loans.

Let’s be realistic. No one sees a crafty and clever Facebook post and flies off the couch to call their loan officer because they just “had to have another loan.” A lot of time goes into social media and it’s because it’s highly addictive. Your offer HAS TO BE a good fit. Loans aren’t a good fit. If you’ve put in the time and effort to be “social”, trying to turn posts about Fannie, Freddie, Market Reports and Curb appeal into a “rockin’ conversation” then you already recognize that you’re mistaking activity for achievement.

Someone has to be honest about these things, better it’s someone with a solution…

So, what do you do about it?If you feel as though you “just want to find what works” in order to generate referrals, it’s a lot easier than you may think. The four mistakes listed above are the most common and a lot of so called “marketing experts” are really just opportunistic marketers selling one size fits all Facebook and Email marketing to someone that legitimately needs help. In the car industry they say, “there’s an ass for every seat, and a seat for every ass” I was 19 when I bought my first car and the car salesman was annoyed that I hadn’t made up my mind and that’s what he said to me. Needless to say, he didn’t get my business.

What you need to do is learn what works and what doesn’t. Know enough to where you can make an informed decision on how to proceed with your marketing in a way that works and will continue to work. You can be generating referrals and a living breathing referral source that lasts a lifetime. This is where Exodus comes in. You should be completely aware of how sphere of influence marketing works before you make another move because that’s where your referrals are and that’s where your next deal is likely to come from.

So here’s a recap.

You develop a relationship with every single person you help achieve the American Dream. Squandering that relationship isn’t the best way to get referrals. Once that relationship is lost, It’s rarely regained. Keeping that relationship in tact is NOT going to happen by:

Someone else talk for you or letting relevant content replace you in the relationship that you’ve developed. (Mistake #1)

Neglecting the value of the people with real world experience with your services and professionalism (Mistake #2)

Using the wrong medium (vehicle) to communication with your client base (Mistake #3)

Putting in time effort as well as resources that are nothing more than remedial activities and justifying that time and effort by viewing it as achievement. (Mistake #4)

We’re happy to share this information with you and there’s plenty more. If you’d like to receive additional marketing tips and insights going forward, subscribe to our mailing list. Or pick up the phone and give us a call. We’re always here to help you get it right. 800-315-1910 Option 1 from the system prompt.

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Mailing list accuracy is paramount. By utilizing our Change Of Address Service, your mailing list will be accurate with in 2 weeks of the Post Office’s records. The COA Service is used to compare your mailing list against the United States Postal Services – Change of Address database and returns to us a new address along with the month and year that the move occurred. It requires that the initial address is correct and that the addressee submitted a Change of Address / Mail Forwarding Request with their local post office.

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What is it?: Since not everyone knows how to write we offer the content help service. It is no more than a 5-7 minute conversation with your layout rep. Not a questionnaire or forms you need to fill out. Your layout representative asks a handful of business and personal related questions. Nothing too serious however we use the answers to write the personalization for you. It works extremely well and often inspires things to share with your clients that you might not have thought of or were unsure would be worth while. Most people realize they're just reflecting back on the last 30 days or so.

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FedEx Shipping of Extras

When you add Extras to your newsletter campaign, we need want to be sure they are delivered promptly and trackable. Therefore ALL Extras are shipped FedExGround at a fixed discount cost of $9.50 regardless of the amount of Extras you request.

Total Postage

Postage is fixed at .39 cents per mailed newsletter and is calculated as database size x .39

Total Newsletter Price

The Total Newsletter Price is the Database size + Extras multiplied by the Price Per Piece.

Newsletter Price Per Piece

The pricing matrix to the right shows that as the number of newsletters goes up, the price per piece goes down. In other words, the discounts are built into the system.

As you create your quote, the pricing will include the discount based on the total amount of newsletters in your database, in addition to any Extras you add.

From 100 to 149 newsletters the Price Per Piece is .82 cents.

As your market share grows and it reaches each pricing level, the Price Per Piece discount is automatically applied.

Total Newsletter Quantity

Your total newsletter quantity is your database size plus any Extras you’d like to receive.
Extras are added or removed at any time on your client dashboard

What are Extras?

Extras are the number of newsletters you request to be printed and shipped directly to you in addition to what we mail to your client database.

Clients typically add Extras so they can:

► Hand them out to referral partners
► Have newsletters available for open houses
► Make them available in the reception area

Extras can be added or removed at any time on the client dashboard.

Sphere of Influence / Database Size

The amount of records in your client database determines the number of newsletters printed, not including any Extras you decide to add to the overall total (see the Extras [Learn More] for details on Extras).

Personalization Color Choice

While the newsletter and content we provide is in full 4-Color, you can choose to have your personalization in either 2-Color (Black & White) or full 4-Color.
With the 4-Color option, you also have the option of replacing our main page-one article with your own on any issue. The 4-Color option adds $59.00 per issue regardless of piece count.

Newsletter Price Quote Generator

The purpose of this form is to provide you with the costs of using a newsletter. When comparing direct marketing to all other forms of marketing for LO’s and Realtors, the properly personalized newsletter is far more effective at generating referrals.

This is not an order form. It’s a price-quote tool that will email you the price quote.

Please feel free to use it or pass it on to anyone who might have similar interest in successfully increasing referrals.